Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

The Five Elements Mountain was settled, and the Buddhist scroll was sealed. All three realms believed that the demon monkey had been subdued.

After the Buddha returned to Mount Sumeru, the immortals and gods dispersed, and the Heavenly Court returned to "order." Only beneath the Five Elements Mountain, daily roars of resentment and struggles echoed, shaking the rocks and reminding the world of the unruly being suppressed there.

However, what no one knows is—

The real Sun Wukong is currently cultivating diligently in the "Heaven of Power" within the Chaos World Brick, sweating profusely.

This world was specially created for him by Lu Chen. The gravity here is a hundred times that of the outside world, and the air is filled with chaotic air currents and fragments of the most primordial laws of force. Every day, Sun Wukong carries a 100,000-jin Chaos Stone, running and leaping, wielding his golden cudgel to fight against the "Chaos Warrior" crafted by Lu Chen, pushing the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique to its limit.

His physical body was transforming at a visible speed, every hair seemed to be coated with a dark golden luster, and space was subtly distorted with every move he made. The "Golden Eye of Truth" seed between his eyebrows was also slowly taking root and sprouting under the nourishment of the chaotic energy. Although it was not yet fully formed, it already allowed him to "see" the flow of the laws of power during cultivation, making his efforts twice as effective.

"Master, I feel that if I practice for another hundred or two hundred years, I can push the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique to the seventh revolution!" Sun Wukong swept away three Chaos Warriors with his staff and excitedly said to Lu Chen, who was supervising him.

"Seventh Revolution?" Lu Chen cracked sunflower seeds and shook his head. "Not enough. I want you to reach at least the eighth revolution within five hundred years, achieve physical sainthood, and be strong enough to lift half of Mount Buzhou. Only then will you have the power to overturn the table when you leave the mountain."

"Half of Mount Buzhou?" Sun Wukong clicked his tongue in astonishment, then his eyes blazed with fighting spirit. "Then I'll have to fight even harder!"

He grabbed a Chaos Spirit Fruit from the side and stuffed it into his mouth, then turned and pounced into the Chaos Warrior formation to fight.

Lu Chen nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to another part of the world inside the brick.

There floats a huge "water mirror" there, displaying the situation of the Five Elements Mountain in the outside world in real time.

At the bottom of the mountain, the chaotic monkey hair clone "Sun Wukong" roars and struggles at a fixed time every day, according to the preset program, consuming the sealing power of the Buddhist scroll. At the deepest part of the seal, at the microscopic level invisible to the naked eye, countless chaotic Dao patterns as fine as hair, like the most intricate roots, silently penetrate into the Buddhist scroll's system of Buddhist power circulation.

These Dao patterns were implanted by Lu Chen through the Chaos World Brick during the instant of spatial displacement. They do not break the seal, do not interfere with the suppression, and only do one thing—

Stealing the Buddha's power.

The seal on the Five Elements Mountain is essentially a six-syllable mantra written by the Buddha himself, which requires a massive amount of Buddhist power to maintain daily. This Buddhist power comes from the faith and offerings of the Vulture Peak, as well as from the blessings of the Buddha's own cultivation.

At this moment, every instant, an extremely small amount of Buddhist power is "intercepted" by those chaotic Dao patterns and transmitted into the chaotic world brick through a hidden chaotic channel, gathering in a specially made "Buddha Power Pool".

In the Buddha Power Pool, golden Buddha power ripples like liquid, radiating a pure, peaceful, and enlightening aura. Although this Buddha power has been "stolen," it still retains the most essential characteristics of Buddhism.

"The Buddha's power is a wonderful thing." Lu Chen stroked his chin, watching the golden liquid gradually rise in the pool. "It is pure and vast, containing the true meanings of the Great Dao such as 'suppression,' 'conversion,' and 'cause and effect.' Direct absorption is definitely not possible; it would be assimilated by Buddhist techniques. But... it can be used for other things."

With a thought, he took out a small ball of Buddhist power, and then took out a few materials: a piece of bitter bamboo root (secretly broken from Zhunti's Seven Treasures Tree), three drops of Chaos Demon Ape essence blood (extracted when refining the origin), and a piece of Reincarnation Stone (given by the Goddess Pingxin of the Underworld).

"Using bitter bamboo as the bone, demonic ape blood as the guide, the Reincarnation Stone as the foundation, and the power of Buddha as the water..." Lu Chen's hands flew, and chaotic energy swirled around him as he began to refine.

Several days later, a strange talisman, grayish-gold in color and shaped like an eye, took shape and floated in the air, exuding an eerie aura—it possessed the serenity of Buddhism, the arrogance of the demonic ape, and the profoundness of reincarnation.

"This talisman is called 'Breaking Buddhist Barriers'." Lu Chen put it away. "If we encounter Buddhist methods of salvation or suppression in the future, activating this talisman can temporarily weaken its power, or even counter it. Consider it another insurance policy for the monkey."

He continued to observe the water mirror.

Outside the Five Elements Mountain, the local earth god and mountain deity, acting on the Buddha's orders, were responsible for guarding the area and feeding "Sun Wukong" copper molten metal and iron pills daily. These copper molten metal and iron pills were actually "inferior" Five Elements essence provided by the Heavenly Court, intended to slowly erode Sun Wukong's foundation.

Lu Chen had anticipated this, secretly replacing most of the molten copper and iron pills with chaotic energy. What he fed to his clone was merely a decorative outer shell. The true essence of the five elements was also intercepted by the chaotic Dao patterns and sent into the brick for Sun Wukong to absorb and refine.

"Stealing Buddhist power on one hand, and the essence of the Five Elements on the other..." Lu Chen laughed, "The stricter the Buddha's watch is, the more this 'thief' reaps. This is called 'sustainable development'."

Time passed day by day.

Five years, ten years, fifty years...

The roars and struggles beneath the Five Elements Mountain never ceased, the Buddhist scrolls and light remained dazzling, and everything seemed to be under the control of the Tathagata.

Lingshan, Daleiyin Temple.

Occasionally, the Buddha would observe the Five Elements Mountain with his all-seeing eye. Seeing that the seal was secure and the demon monkey's aura, though fierce, had not increased, he would nod slightly and say, "This monkey's wild nature has not been extinguished, but after five hundred years of suppression, its sharp edges should be smoothed out, making it a protector on the journey to the West."

Guanyin Bodhisattva always felt that something was amiss, and she secretly investigated many times, even going to the Five Elements Mountain in person to observe with her wisdom eye, but she only saw the rocks, the Buddha's light, and the struggling monkey shadows, and everything seemed normal.

"Perhaps this monkey is too arrogant, making me feel uneasy?" Guanyin thought to herself, and finally suppressed her doubts.

Fifty years have passed within the chaotic world brick (the flow of time varies within the brick, so in reality, five hundred years have passed).

Sun Wukong has cultivated the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique to the peak of the seventh revolution, making his physical body as strong as a postnatal treasure. The seed of the Golden Eyes of Illusion has also sprouted. Although it cannot penetrate the origin when opened, it can easily see through the illusions and transformations of those below the Great Luo Golden Immortal level.

"Master, the bottleneck of the eighth stage is too difficult to break through." One day, Sun Wukong finished his cultivation and said with distress. He felt that his physical body had reached its limit, and to advance further, he needed some kind of "qualitative change" opportunity.

"The time is not right," Lu Chen said. "The eighth stage requires drawing upon the chaotic tribulation lightning to temper the body, which is too drastic and not advisable now. You should stabilize your realm and hone your combat skills. When the five hundred years are up and you leave the mountain, I will make arrangements for you."

He paused, then looked at the water mirror: "Judging by the time, the tenth incarnation of Jin Chanzi should be born by now."

The water mirror reflects the changing scene, revealing Jambudvipa (the southern continent) and Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.

On this day, Yin Wenjiao gave birth to a son, Jiang Liuer.

At the same time, at the foot of Five Elements Mountain, the Chaos Monkey Hair clone received Lu Chen's command and struggled even more "vigorously," shaking the mountaintop so loudly that even the Buddha's light flickered.

The local earth god on guard duty was so frightened that he scrambled to report: "Buddha! That demon monkey... that demon monkey, for some reason, is struggling exceptionally fiercely today, and even the Buddhist scroll seems unable to subdue it!"

At Mount Ling, the Buddha's eyes flickered slightly: "The reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, drawn together by its energy? It seems that this monkey's connection with the pilgrims is indeed profound."

He raised his hand and pointed it out from a distance, injecting a purer Buddhist power into the Buddhist scroll, and the Five Elements Mountain returned to stability.

Inside the Chaotic World Brick, Lu Chen looked at the Buddhist power reserves in the "Buddha Power Pool," which had surged dramatically due to the blessing of Tathagata, and grinned from ear to ear.

"Increased investment? That's good, that's good."

He turned to Sun Wukong and said, "See? This is the importance of 'acting skills.' The more you cause trouble, the more he reinforces his defenses, and the more we can steal."

Sun Wukong chuckled and said, "Master, I now think that being imprisoned for five hundred years wasn't all bad."

"This is nothing." Lu Chen looked eastward. "The curtain is about to rise on the Journey to the West, and all the 'actors' should be in place."

"Tianpeng, Juanlian, the White Dragon... and those immortals and Buddhas' mounts, attendants, and demons descending to earth waiting to set obstacles for the pilgrims."

"We need to go ahead and give them some 'script revision suggestions'."

He shouldered the Chaos Brick, a familiar sly glint in his eyes.

"After all, for this show to be exciting, the main character alone isn't enough."

Even supporting characters need to have their own ideas.